SEC Updates: Some separation at the top

It's hard to believe, but the college football regular season is already halfway over. Teams are starting to have bye weeks, but most teams have now completed their sixth game, marking the halfway mark for the regular season. It's still somewhat early in the season, but some teams are starting to separate themselves from the pack in the SEC while others are quickly falling behind.

Before we get into the results from this weekend's match-ups, here are the updated SEC standings:

There weren't a lot of close, highly-anticipated games around the SEC this weekend, but one stood out among the rest. The Tennessee Volunteers played host to the No. 19 Georgia Bulldogs, and both teams were reeling after embarrassing losses the previous week. The Vols had lost three of their last four games, and all three losses saw Tennessee lose two-score leads at various points in the games, and the latest was against Arkansas. Georgia was coming off a blowout 38-10 loss to Alabama at home that didn't see the Bulldogs score a touchdown until the fourth quarter. Both teams needed a victory on Saturday.

Despite losing star running back Nick Chubb for the game (and likely the season), the Bulldogs jumped out to a 24-3 lead thanks to two big touchdown plays, one coming on a 96-yard fumble return and the other on a 70-yard punt return. But the Vols cut it to 24-17 right before halftime and ended up taking a 31-24 lead late into the third quarter. Georgia struck back on the first play of the fourth quarter to tie it at 31, and it looked like the Vols were going to collapse yet again. Instead, Tennessee scored with 5:48 left to take the lead and held off the Bulldogs in the closing seconds to preserve the upset. Tennessee earned their first SEC win of the season, and Georgia dropped their second straight conference game and are looking for answers.

The team on top of the SEC East, the No. 11 Florida Gators, remained undefeated after dominating Missouri on Saturday, earning a 21-3 victory. Florida didn't need much on offense, gaining just 337 total yards of offense. But the Gators held Missouri to just 257 offensive yards and intercepted quarterback Drew Lock twice, returning one 40-yards for a score in the third quarter. The Gators have now allowed just one touchdown in their last two contests and are a surprising 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the conference.

Arkansas gave No. 8 Alabama all they could ask for for three quarters, but the Crimson Tide's defense eventually wore down the Razorbacks and stuffed Arkansas's powerful rushing attack, holding them to just 44 rushing yards in a 27-14 victory. Alabama struggled to get much going on offense for most of the game, but the Tide broke through in the second half, scoring 24 of their 27 points after halftime. Alabama scored their first touchdown of the day on an 81-yard pass from Jacob Coker to Calvin Ridley to give the Crimson Tide a 10-7 lead, and they never looked back, pouring on 17 points in the fourth quarter to pull away.

The only other conference match-up pitted No. 7 LSU against South Carolina in what was supposed to be a home game for the Gamecocks until flooding and poor weather forced South Carolina to play a "home game" in Baton Rouge. LSU struggled early, giving up a kick return touchdown to the Gamecocks and only held a 17-10 lead at the half. But the Tigers surged ahead in the second half thanks to several big plays, and LSU blew past South Carolina 45-24. Running back Leonard Fournette had another big game, but he wasn't the leading rusher on his own team for once. Fournette finished with 158 yards on 20 carries while Derrius Guice gained 161 yards on 16 carries. LSU out-gained South Carolina 624 to 283 on offense and overpowered the Gamecocks, dropping South Carolina to 0-4 in conference play.

The other two SEC teams to play dominated in non-conference play, as No. 14 Ole Miss routed New Mexico State 52-3 and Mississippi State blew out Troy 45-17. Both teams needed the win after dropping conference games last weekend.

Right now, Florida, LSU, and Texas A&M are the only remaining undefeated SEC teams. Florida has a stranglehold on the East right now, while the West is still very open. There's still plenty of time for the standings to shift, and they most definitely will if history is any indicator.